Hi everyone,
Next weekend is my very first Master's swim meet and I have to say, I'm really quite nervous! I've been a competitive swimmer all my life since I was 6 years old and growing up, competitive swimming was pretty much my life. When I was younger I was a great swimmer..qualified for YMCA Nationals at the Swimming Hall of Fame multiple times, swam for a Division I college, placed in top 10 at MAAC championships, etc
But now, almost 9 years out of college, I'm about 50 pounds heavier:afraid: and am nowhere near as fast as I was when I was in my best shape. I'm trying to get back in shape and lose some weight, and I'm really enjoying getting back into swimming again. I've been swimming with my local Masters team for the past 2 months now and have my very first meet coming up.
The thing is...I'm really nervous about how I'm going to look in my bathing suit compared to all the other swimmers and how slow I'll be. Am I going to be the only overweight and out of shape swimmer there? I'm worried that my times are so slow, that even if I'm in the slowest heat, I'll still be so far behind even the "slow" swimmers in my heat. (For example, one of the events I've entered is the 1000 free. My fastest time in college was 10:24 and I time trialed myself and was 16:02 :blush:)
I know I need to focus on my progress and not worry about everyone else, but I think I still have that old competitive swimming mindset. I'm envisioning all these fit, trim, ripped swimmers and then there will be me heading up to the blocks with my belly and cellulite!:blush:
How was your very first Master's swim meet?? Did you have the same worries/fears?
Thanks for your help, and please, this is my very first post so don't be too hard on me!
Erica :)
Ha Ha Mr. tuxedo man, you look magnificent and you should be extremely proud of yourself!!!!!! You are a real swimming/workout success story!
Not all of us do quite as well as you, but we all keep trying! :blush:
Ha Ha Mr. tuxedo man, you look magnificent and you should be extremely proud of yourself!!!!!! You are a real swimming/workout success story!
Not all of us do quite as well as you, but we all keep trying! :blush:
Thanks Bobinator! :-) I appreciate the encouragement! However Erica should know - I only started swimming a year ago. It'll be a lot faster for her body to bounce back as its actually bouncing back. My body has never been as skinny as it is now.
For my first meet last year after about 20 years off, I thought the exact same things. I was not thin or fast, but A) no one seems to really care at Masters meets, and B) Much to my surprise, I was not the heaviest or the slowest. (And I was practically the youngest, which made me feel like a kid!)
Show up, have fun, and swim your best. :cheerleader:
I don't worry about how I look in my suit anymore, because I'm too busy trying to keep the old guys with pot bellies from getting too far ahead in my heat.
There's only one thing that really sucks about being slightly overweight: you never know when someone will be taking a photo of you. During the meet you're too busy having fun and racing faster than you thought you would. But afterward... I remember looking at photos after a swim meet and thinking, "that fat lady with the bad posture and the huge stomach had the same swimsuit as me and I didn't notice her all day... Oh wait... Oh :censor:!"
So just keep standing up straight and enjoy it!
Have Fun - that is why you are back!
Wait till you beat those skinny swimmers!:applaud:
With those times in your back ground, you will get faster soon. Good luck!
i too was about 45-50lbs over college weight with my first masters meet and thought about the same things you are thinking about.
results from meets will vary from state to state from meet to meet. I don't think that 16 in the 100 is all that slow.
forget what you could do back then and start setting goals for now. you have 16:02 swimming on your own. try to swim under 16:00 at the meet and then make new goals based on that. then you can try to link your weight loss goals to your times.
I was surprised to see at my first masters meet that even though I was 45-50 lbs over weight, I was by far not the one with the biggest belly.
The thing is...I'm really nervous about how I'm going to look in my bathing suit compared to all the other swimmers and how slow I'll be. Am I going to be the only overweight and out of shape swimmer there? I'm worried that my times are so slow, that even if I'm in the slowest heat, I'll still be so far behind even the "slow" swimmers in my heat.
How was your very first Master's swim meet?? Did you have the same worries/fears?
Erica :)
When I started swimming again, I went to my first two weeks of workout in a board suit because I thought I was too heavy to wear a brief. I got over that pretty quickly trying to drag that big board suit through a workout.
I went to my first meet 5 months later and didn't really give it a thought. You will enjoy masters meets. Everyone is inclusive and supportive. Usually there are a number of people who are swimming for the first time in a meet. You will see people who start from the side and in the water (don't feel comfortable on the blocks). You may see former olympians and national champions. You will find a lot of people who enjoy swimming and getting together at meets. You won't find judgmental people who care what you look like or how fast you are.
So go and have fun - don't worry, be happy.
The beauty of Masters swimming is that it draws all types of people. There will be the sculpted, uber-fast swimmers there. BUT, there will also be people there to have fun who enjoy being part of a team. There will also be people who look so frail that you wonder about their sanity until they pull an amazing 200 fly faster than you can swim it with fins. :)
Enjoy the experience, enjoy being back, and do the best you can do - right now. Race the clock - not your memories. None of us are in high school anymore - and many of those you will see at the meet - myself included - never swam in high school and picked up the sport for the simple love of swimming and the camaraderie found being part of a team.
Have fun and good luck! :cheerleader:
Good Luck Erica :cheerleader:
To echo the earlier comments, Masters swimmers come in all shapes and sizes. At my first meet, I was probably 30lbs overweight and swam 5 secs slower per 100 than my best age-group times (that weren't all that fast anyway - I didn't swim in college). But I caught that competition bug again, lost the weight, did some all-time PRs a couple of years later, swam events I NEVER swam before and generally had a really good time.
Due to 2 babies and moving internatonally I think I've made more comebacks than Dara Torres. But I keep on coming back!
This is the start of your Masters swimming career, get some base times established and have fun.
